Behind, Hackney
Pull up a lunchtime seat (Thursday or Friday) at this intimate east-London restaurant for six exquisite fish-led courses – for just £64.
Cail Bruich, Glasgow
Do you fancy Orkney scallops, Cairngorms venison, Peterhead-landed monkfish? Book a midweek dinner (£95) or Friday-Saturday lunch (£70) to taste Lorna McNee’s exceptional Scotland-celebrating menu.
Cedar Tree at Farlam Hall, Brampton
Choose any three dishes from the tasting menu to create a £90 meal at Hrishikesh Desai’s smart restaurant, a worthy newcomer to the Exceptional family. Flavours of the chef’s Indian heritage blend with Cumbrian ingredients including many from the kitchen garden.
Claude Bosi at Bibendum, Chelsea
If you fancy a flavour of this ‘temple of gastronomy’ without a ‘temple of gastronomy’ bill, choose the weekly changing three-course Market Menu offered at lunch for £75.
La Dame de Pic, Tower Hill
For utterly refined cooking, an utterly memorable experience, this restaurant in the Four Seasons hotel is hard to beat. On Friday-Saturday lunchtimes, four courses cost £100.
Grace & Savour, Solihull
Immerse yourself in the light-filled serenity of this restaurant within the kitchen garden of Hampton Manor, and let the team prepare a Saturday lunch (£90 for seven courses) that might include ex-dairy beef, seared cod, and new-season rhubarb.
Harborne Kitchen, Harborne
A perennial favourite, and for delicious reason. It’s fantastic value too, the full eight-course (plus snacks) experience sneaking into this list at £100. Avoid Friday-Saturday nights to try the generous ‘5 for £55’ offer, and shorter tasting menu (£80).
Hide and Fox, Hythe
The five-course tasting menu comes in at £85 at this popular Kentish spot, but come for lunch midweek and spend just £48 on an exceptional-value three-course menu – just remember to pre-order online using code ‘three course’.
Home, Penarth
It’s four courses for £68 on Friday and Saturday lunchtime at the Sommerin family’s intimate restaurant. Expect classical cooking, but plenty of playfulness.
Lake Road Kitchen, Ambleside
The ‘Classic LRK’ menu is the five-course option at James Cross’s creative, contemporary restaurant. At £75 it’s superb value for a meal that blends exceptional ingredients with true kitchen mastery.
Meadowsweet, Holt
Linger over a lunch inflected with the flavours of Norfolk at this serene restaurant in Holt. At £75 it’s a delicious steal, and there are rooms above if you don’t want to leave.
Mýse, Hovingham
This Yorkshire newcomer, straight into the Guide as Exceptional, offers a £95 lunch menu that shows the best of Yorkshire ingredients in the context of regenerative farming. A gem in the prettiest of villages.
The Old Stamp House, Ambleside
Lunch for £55, dinner for £95. That’s a keen price for the exceptional Cumbria-rooted cooking and easy-going service from brothers Ryan and Craig Blackburn. It’s almost worth it for the Herdwick lamb fat-glazed bread alone.
Osip, Bruton
Celebrate the season with Osip’s £75 Winter Menu, and tuck into a five-course lunch or dinner crafted from ingredients that arrive into the kitchen that day. The menu is offered till mid-March, so don’t delay!
Outlaw’s New Road, Port Isaac
It’s a la carte at lunchtime at Nathan Outlaw’s restaurant, and with a tartlet of crab starting the meal at £15, maybe followed by bass in a vermouth sauce (£36), and profiteroles (£12), you’re tasting the fish maestro’s cooking for under £65.
Pollen Street Social
The airy elegance of Pollen Street Social is a beautiful backdrop to Jason Atherton’s refined cookery. It’s all even more appealing at lunchtime when a three-course menu is just £58.
Restaurant Twenty-Two, Cambridge
Doing anything Thursday lunchtime? Head to Cambridge where – for one day a week – a three-course set lunch (plus magnificent bread and butter) at this classy, friendly restaurant is a £55 steal.
The Ritz Restaurant, Mayfair
A bargain at The Ritz? It’s possible. Book for a midweek lunch and pay £84 for three courses that could include beef tartare, Suffolk lamb with Roscoff onion, and a banana soufflé. And you get to eat in that dining room.
The Sea, The Sea, Hackney
Winner of the GFG’s ‘Best Front Row Seat’ award, this 14-seat counter restaurant is a Hackney thriller. If you can find one of the last slots before Leandro Carreira leaves at the end of March, slide into a comfortable seat, watch the action, and enjoy the exceptional food – all for £95 a head.
Spring, Aldwych
Skye Gyngell’s pretty London restaurant is a place to know, especially for its fantastic-value midweek set lunch, just £29/£30 for two/three courses. Look out also for the famous Scratch menu (£30) that uses ingredients that would otherwise go to waste.
The White Swan, Fence
It’s a local pub, and then some. Expect delicious things at this Lancashire spot where exceptional cookery happens in a humble setting, and with a restrained price tag – the five-course dinner is just £85.
Woven by Adam Smith, Ascot
Adam Smith’s classy restaurant within sumptuous Coworth Park hotel is a spot to know for lunch. Expect precision, magnificent ingredients and superlative service. It’s £85 well spent.
